A Conversation to Visit Over and Over Again!

Growing up in public school in Southern California, I was often challenged in my faith in science class.  Back in my day, we actually had a Creation vs. Evolution debate in our Biology class.  I know that we would be hard pressed to find that today.  Remembering back to my time in high school, I felt so confused with what our teacher said was fact and what I learned at church.

My parents did not have a clue in this area, so I was on my own to figure it out.  As I ventured out into a very secular Christian college, I found that there were many versions to what Christians believe in the Creation account.  Never really figuring out my stance, I graduated college not thinking it was a big deal.  God created the world, in some way, that must fit some Biblical model, I thought.  I was content not really figuring out the details.

Now teaching my four kids some 20 years later, I fell into learning things all over again.  We have been blessed to be teaching from a Biblical worldview for the last 9 years using Apologia Science curriculum.  I have been learning alongside my children and discovering that my belief in the Creation Story IS important to how I view the Bible.  Believing in a young earth, a poetic Genesis or evolutionary creation does affect my worldview.

I have learned that my kids need to learn about creation and hear it over and over again because the world is always there fighting for my kids’ souls.  It doesn’t work to say it once . . . or take one class . . . or go to one lecture.  I want my kids to whine and say, “Mom, we know this already”.  “Wonderful!  You get to teach today!” I say.

We have visited so many museums and watched so many shows that preach the evolutionary theories.  But I never shy away from a conversation with my kids about what the Bible really says.  This is the conversation to be repeated with my kids.  Learning God’s truth of creation, who God is and how to defend your faith is something we teach over and over again!

My kids can’t remember what I taught them last year . . . hence, the constant conversation!

God says “Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up”. Deut. 6:7  What are we to repeat? God says learn to love the Lord with all your heart, soul and might (v.5) . . . to learn to fear Him and love his statues and commands that it might go well with you and your children (v.2).

 There are many resources to help us!  Our family has listened to hours and hours of Jonathan Park audiobook series.  I think it is a wonderful resource to teach our children (and us adults) how to stand up against evolutionary thinking.  I highly recommend it! My kids all love to listen to it, even my 14 year old son!  We have attended a couple Creation vs. Evolution debates.  We have studied science from a Biblical worldview every year.  We have talked and talked and talked about it! 

So you can imagine my excitement when we were visiting the Creation Museum in Hebron, Kentucky a couple of weekends ago.  What a blessing it was to visit a museum sharing our same views and faith.  I was so refreshed and energized to be there! And we were continuing the conversation . . .

How are you teaching your kids “diligently” about the Creator of the world?

How are you continuing the conversation?

Jackie's Journey: Terror to Trust

“The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.” Psa. 142:11

My introduction to our new life in the village Pucuro was a “shocker”.   My youngest daughter’s  disappearance from my arms in those first moments after arriving on the riverbank caused my entire being to experience sheer terror! 

 Skipping that one day would have been the loss of a life-lesson that changed my life!

Missionary Boot Camp training had been deliberate in preparing me for this crisis.  My mind was reminded of the reason why we had come and the promise I had claimed two years prior to the moment I was living now!  “…Whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease without fear of harm.”  The verse worked so well when we lived in the States!  Proverbs 1:33 was written by the “wisest” man that ever lived and it had always given me courage to keep on.

 Have you ever claimed a promise from God and then panicked when put to the test?

Two men from our mission had contacted these unreached tribal people two years before.  The Kunas had asked for someone to come and bring them the medicine and help they needed to keep their babies from dying at birth.  Some of the mothers were weakened by tuberculosis.  There were multiple infections and parasites of every kind…would someone answer that call?

Well…we answered…and they had taken my baby!

My heart sank as I scanned the agitated crowd in the dimness of the dark night.  Certainly no electricity here!  Pitch black, drenched bodies, dark faces, barking dogs, slushy mud path and no baby.  My heart pounding and unaware of my personal discomfort or how I must sound, I stood dripping wet in a downpour, screeching in a foreign tongue…calling into the wind for my lost child.

Completely overwhelmed by my loss I saw someone slip out of the darkness and run in my direction.  Stretching over people she placed my tiny girl back into my waiting arms.  I now had both babies against my breast and I breathed a sigh of incomprehensible relief, whispering a prayer of gratefulness to my God who keeps His promises! 

“He holds victory in store for the upright, He is a shield to those who walk blameless for He guards the course of the just and He protects the way of His faithful ones.” Proverbs 2:7,8

Paul Little, in How to Give Away Your Faith, wrote “The statement that God is in control is either true or it’s not true.  But if it is true and we accept God’s revelation of Himself, our faith enables us to enjoy and rest in the certainty of His providence (will).”

 I stood up, turned to face my new reality and walked through the door of my brand-new jungle life!

It was a good thing it was too dark to know who had inadvertently brought such distress to my spirit that night. But bless her, because she had been used to quickly bring me to the throne of Grace for a thorough evaluation of my personal commitment to His “calling”! 

Gratefully, as a young mother, I was given the opportunity very early to place my heritage in the hands of an all-knowing God.  He had again asked me to “count the cost”.  I stopped wanting to “skip” life-lessons and began embracing them. I claimed those powerful promises in the Word that had always been applied to others and now…were all mine!

These are my grandchildren… my heritage…all seven of them!

Jackie's Journey: KIDNAPPED! Really?

Baby Kim and her sister, Christina.

Hang on to your hats…this was one day in my life I could have skipped! 

Ever had those days???

Dusk was cascading over the torrential waters, enveloping our dugout into the dark silence of the unknown jungle.  Along the mangrove-lined shoreline we could hear twigs breaking and see shadows of what appeared to be dark, naked bodies racing us to the remote landing in the deep stillness.

For eight hours we had traveled upriver unceasingly, pressing on against the rapid flow of the Tuira River through lighting bolts, thunder and rain.  The river had risen 8 feet as we fought the current in our long journey up the contiguously inaccessible jungle waters.  Our goal to reach this isolated Indian village on the Colombian border in Panama was now within our reach!

Underneath the makeshift tarp that protected us from the worst of the violent storm were two little girls.  One, almost three, was exceedingly excited and could not wait to get out of the wet boat and the other, just a few months old, was securely wrapped in my arms.  Our piragua was piled high with everything we would need for the next six months!

Jungle River

The boat brusquely hit the bank and as I stood, dripping wet, to face all the unknowns that had brought us to this sandy beach, the warm little bundle in my arms was abruptly yanked from me and disappeared into the darkness of the night!!  I quickly grabbed my once excited and happy three year old by the hand.  She was now very confused.  Her contentment was exchanged for eyes full of fear!  I pulled her close to me and began calling for my baby…

In that instant, the crowd pushed and shoved us up a short trail that led to our mud-floored, bark-walled house.  My insistent calls for my lost child were ignored and unanswered. 

As I stepped over the threshold of our unfinished new home, the rats (at least I prayed they were rats!) scurried among the barrels that had been sent a month ahead of us and now stored our rice and dried beans in the very open tin-roofed room.  The sound of rain on that roof was deafening!

My worst fear had come upon me…Job 3:25,26.  I screamed again into the crowd for my tiny daughter and again received no response.  I lifted my three year old into my arms and determinedly turned to walk back through the crowd down to the river’s edge!

Where had my baby gone?   Who had taken her?!

Immediately, my panic turned to terror…

The familiar promise in Proverbs 1:33 eluded me.  “…whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

What was happening?  Why had God allowed this? 

There are three Biblical Principles regarding trials:

1.  Trials are common to all of us.  No one escapes unscathed. 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has seized you except what is common to men.  And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”  No excuses and no victims here! The real question is not why, but “Why not, Jackie, don’t you trust me?!  I will never leave you or forsake you…listen to ME, not your circumstances!.”
2. Trials are given with divine purpose and will pass.  1Peter 1:6 “In this you may greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”
3.  Trials are life-lessons NOT to be wasted!  James 1:4 “Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

C.S. Lewis wrote in The Great Divorce “There are two kinds of people:  Those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your own way.’”

I was standing at the point of decision! My options were limited…

What is your attitude toward the trials in life?  Which kind of person are you?

Join me next Monday for my decision…think about yours.

Trouble in the Light of Eternity

I woke up in the morning with a list of things to down swirling in my head before my feet had touched the ground.  Racing out the door with a greasy head of hair, work out clothes on and no breakfast, I yelled to my children, “I have to run down the hill!  Will be back in a jiff!”

Six and half hours later, I arrived back home in the gas station owner’s car with defrosted groceries and a smile on my face!!

I had so many things to do!  You see, I had to order so many things that day for our upcoming Midwest Convention by noon.  I had children to pick up from classes and ones at home to school.  I was making a meal for a friend who had just had a baby.  I wanted to work out.  I had cleaning duties to attend to at my kid’s school.  Bruce, my stand-by hero in situations like this, was on a plane to New York.  So the last thing I needed was car trouble!

What normally would be considered a complete inconvenience and TROUBLE in my book turned out to be a complete blessing!

As my battery and alternator died that dreaded morning, I had a choice to make!  Normally, I would sigh and panic over all that needed to be done that I could not do.  Luckily, before I left the house that morning, I had been in God’s word and for this moment, I made a decision to look at this inconvenience with an eternal perspective.  I whispered a silent prayer as I jumped in the tow truck.  “Okay, God, what are you up to.? I am here willing and ready!”

As I began a conversation with Johnny, my tow truck driver, I began to see His plan unfolding.  What started off with a simple question: “What are you doing this weekend for Easter?”  Led to a dialogue about Johnny’s whole life.  He was a gang member growing up who barely made it out alive.  He hadn’t been in church since he was 17 because “he had messed up so much”.  His wife, who now has MS, is the center of his world and he is too busy now to step foot in church.  As we talked through how much God loves him and his family, he began to soften.  We talked about who he is in God’s eyes and how he can do nothing to be outside of God’s love for him.  He admitted to wanting friends and needing help with his wife.  What better place than in the company of saints.  I encouraged him to give God another chance.  We talked about dying, about living and about God’s plan.  I invited him to church this Easter and even though he is working, I am going to pray for Johnny because I believe God is calling him.  Would you join me in this prayer?

 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

                                                                                     2 Cor. 4:17-18

Sometimes, the inconveniences of life, are so much more . . .

I would not have been able to engage in “the unseen” of this life and focus on the eternal, if my car had not broken down!  I would not have met Johnny!

So the next time I have a trial . . . or an inconvenience . . . I am going to remember to look around and ask God what He has in store for my day. That way I won’t miss the next Johnny in my life.  I know God will redeem the time and bring “heroes” to help me (like friends who covered for me and drove me around).  Sure, still much didn’t get done that day, but surprisingly a lot did. None of it seemed to matter in the light of eternity!

Tell me about a time when God was there in the midst of your troubles.  When have you focused on the “unseen”?

Jackie's Journey: Fairy Tales vs. Reality Part 2

My oldest and youngest princesses, Megan Joy and Catherine

“So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God”. Romans 14:12"

What is it about a little girl that screams “Princess” at us?

And how is it we visualize “Protective Knights with Honor” in our little boys?

Destined for royalty, our little princesses and knights are designed with

destiny and eternal purpose…

From their earliest memories, our little ones are swamped with a prince and princess stories that introduce them to an unreal world filled with wizardry and lacking strong moral themes with eternal values.  They are asked to define love and romance by standards that are not true to life representative of clearly defined biblical standards.  Our children are needlessly exposed to the illusion of love through the many Prince Charmings that are so readily available to our princess counterparts in most storylines; however, they are not exposed to the truth of genuine love.  Society has blurred the lines between love and lust.

They are caught in a quagmire of choices that offer them temporal values but not eternal ones.  Their personal identification with a fantasy character is deceiving on many levels because the charge to discern the good and evil is often obscured by wrong motives and intentions on the part of the “hero” in the story line.

Often the attitude of the leading characters is questionable and the continual interjection of clairvoyance and magical fantasy is confounding.  The child is left to choose between bad and really bad, instead of good and bad.  Neither choice is particularly clear, but the medium being used (book, film, animation…) is “thought-captivating” and attention binding.  Both of these goals are shortsighted and not fulfilling for the long term.

Living in a post-Christian era, we seek to carve out a more excellent and realistic milieu for our children…these little ones that are so literal and entrusted into our keeping for so short a time.  Christian parents are seeking an alternative to the present prince and princess culture trend in books and films presently available.  The reason: our worldview influences all areas of life and every exposure a child has (visual or auditory) is adding to their life experience and their worldview. 

Presently, how would you describe your child’s worldview?

Articulating a biblical worldview within our sphere of influence is what The Princess Parables Series is all about.  These books are written to strengthen the belief that God made our little princess special and designed her with destiny and purpose.

The innocent imagination of a small child is a book yet to be written.  When the exposure to truth is clouded and “synergized” with fantasy, the images of truth, hope, loyalty, joy, grace, charity and faith are but a few of the myriad of opportunities lost.

Jeanna , my co-author, and I have had the privilege of placing in your hands five real princesses that will delight your little girls and teach them a biblical parable they will fall in love with.  Our five young knights are being introduced in our Easter and Christmas Books coming soon!  Take a peek…

A Birthday to Remember

Last week, it was my husband’s 50th birthday! 

We have many family traditions revolving around birthdays. First, we start with the ever-popular waking-you-up-in-bed-with-presents custom.  Then we have a breakfast choice for the birthday boy on a “You are Special” plate.  We almost always have a party of some kind and a more recent idea is for my daughter to bake a special cake (like the one above).

But my favorite birthday heritage is our Affirmation Dinner.

Everyone in my family knows that this is part of being a Young.  On your birthday, we will go around and share something to acknowledge the masterpiece YOU are becoming.  Eph. 2:10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

So if you are at our house on a birthday, we will eat dinner and then I will say something like, “It is time to affirm the birthday girl (or boy)! Who would like to go first?”  Then, someone will begin and everyone will participate going around the table.  That is a Young Family Rule!  Everyone has to say something!

Here are some questions that we use while affirming others:

Where have you seen God working in that person’s life?  What are character qualities that you see in that person?  What are three things you love about them?  What have they done in the last year that has been a blessing to you?  Do you see them changing the world around us, if so, how?

Just answer one of those questions and you are well on your way to an Affirmation Dinner.  Now the funny thing is I don’t always like being in the center on my birthday.  But I have this friend who insists on a girlfriend get-together to do birthday affirmation and then we do it at home too.  So on my birthday, I receive a double-dose of affirmations.

My friend, who initiates these affirmations, has the love language of “Words of Affirmation”.  She is literally “loving” me by doing this.  For some people, who have this love language, this is the best form of loving to them.  There are 5 love languages and if you don’t know yours, you can take this quick test here.

I have asked the Lord why I don’t like them that much.  Sure, I like hearing all the good stuff . . . but somewhere down inside, I feel like I don’t deserve it.  I squirm a bit.  But God reminded me last year that not only is it a blessing to hear the kind words of others that paint a picture of how I am becoming His masterpiece, but it also blesses those that speak it.  Encouraging and uplifting is a command in the Bible: 1 Thes. 5:11 encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 

The blessing of doing affirmations is found in Hebrews 3:13: But encourage one another … so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

Did it really just say that if I am not affirming and encouraging others that I might be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness?  YES!!  So not only is the one that is receiving the affirmations blessed, but the one giving it, too!

So won’t you consider blessing those around you with the words they so long to hear?  How can you affirm them on their birthdays or even today with encouragement?

Jackie's Journey: Fairy Tales vs. Reality Part 1

Have you ever seen a REAL princess?

 Since the beginning of time there has been a battle of good against evil.  In our present day, we find our lives inundated with children’s books, novels, games, cartoons, T.V. programming and movies filled with magical fiction, romance, and fantasy with the all too predictable witchcraft theme and an evil, scary villain!  A point in fact is the new face of this fight found in the fairy-tale princess phenomenon.

The cry from the masses is met with a barrage of the supernatural and literary narratives brimming with dramatic imaginary story lines.  This particular genre with its fairy-like spirits in ethereal, heroic and monstrous forms is captivating to children, young people and adults alike.  Children are especially susceptible to its alluring charm because their worldview is literal, and this genre speaks to their inner understanding of spiritual reality.

In an earlier blog, “Character Marks the Life of a True Princess”, I talked about what a REAL princess looks like.  The mission of The Princess Parable Series is to introduce and encourage the disciplines necessary to step outside the fantasy and into the magical realism and authenticity of a loving and accepting God who teaches finding contentment in serving others, not in serving oneself.  Although written in fiction, each Princess story is based on fact.  It teaches a specific character quality in the name of its princess and takes the storyline from a Parable that was taught by the greatest teacher ever born.

All of us have spiritual needs (issues of pride, anger, rebellion, and selfishness, to name a few!) that are beyond ourselves, and we tend to try to fill the vacuum we feel with “make-believe”. We allow it to offer us a few moments of escape from the real battle (with good prevailing), if only momentarily.

Most of us acknowledge the struggle and know we are going to live somewhere forever, but have little understanding of the what, when, where, why and how.  The surge of fantasy-ridden books and films is an after-effect of this need and exposes a society, seemingly, without direction or defined purpose.

These five Princesses have been specifically created to put a functional tool into the hands of you, young mothers (urban, suburban, rural, stay-at-home, teen moms, single moms and married moms, grand-moms, aunts, and teachers) each with a different lifestyle, but all who share a similar desire to be the very best power of influence you can be! 

The passion to meet the need of every person desiring to cultivate what God has programmed into her “princess potential” has been a huge source of motivation for me. This passion allows each of us to nurture our little ones into genuine greatness.

As a grandmother, I carry a huge responsibility for the three princesses pictured above.  May I introduce you to Alexandra Grace, Megan Joy and Catherine? 

We, as women, have the power of influence, and God holds us accountable for representing Him and for our diligence in the success of these entrusted to us…our heritage.

What is your commitment to your heritage?

What steps of action are you implementing to see

your legacy live on

into the next generation?

Next Monday we will continue this challenge. Will you join me?

Starting a Princess Parables Club

Have you ever wanted to have a “club” for your daughter?

One morning while I was having my quiet time, the Lord impressed upon me to start up a club for my younger daughter and her friends.  While I could have very easily said I was too busy, I decided to answer the call and I am so grateful that I did!  My older daughter had her group, “God’s Girls” that met at a friend’s house, but my younger daughter, Emmi, didn’t.

I grew up in an age where our parents sent us to church to learn the things of the Bible and to have our faith imprinted on our hearts.  There is nothing wrong with what they did at that time.  I think things are different now. In our generation, I find that I meet so many intentional moms and dads, who teach at home and rely less and less on the church for Biblical wisdom.  Whether we homeschool or pour into our kids after school, there is a new uprising of parents who want to be the spiritual voices in their kids lives.

Taking the challenge, I decided to use our Princess Parables series as the springboard for the group.  I used the princess “Quips” (you can download these for free on our store) and design each meeting around one of the stories.  I've written out some examples of our character lesson and craft for each Princess.  I also purchased silver bracelets at a bead store and am adding charms after each lesson.  The girls will receive their bracelets on the final meeting.  I did charge each girl $20 to belong to the group so that I had money for snacks, crafts and charm bracelets.

The first month we read Princess Charity ‘s Courageous heart.  We focused on the character qualities love and compassion.  It happened to fall on Valentine’s week so made Valentine’s cards for the moms, but you could also write notes to parents, soldiers or missionaries letting them know they are loved and appreciated.  For our bracelet charms we got silver hearts.

The next month we celebrated Princess Joy’s Birthday Blessing.  It also just happened to be one of the girl’s birthdays and my older daughter made a cake.  We learned about having joy in all circumstances.  We talked about remembering to be content and thankful for what happens in our lives.  The craft we made was a small mirror that we painted and glittered.  The mirror was so that the girls could check their attitudes when things aren’t going their way.  The charm they added to their bracelet was a small silver person (to represent helping others).

In April, we are going to read the new book, “The Royal Easter Story” coming out in March 2016.  Our group is blessed to be able to read the “pre-published” version (I guess that is a perk of the author leading the group).  We are going talk about how God rescued us from our sins and we are going to paint a cross.  The girls will add a silver cross to their bracelets.

In May, we will read “Princess Faith and the Mysterious Garden” and learn about patience and persistence.  We will plant a “garden” for each of the girls to take home and they will add a flower charm to their bracelets. 

In June, Princess Hope will take center stage as we focus on the character quality of hope and leadership.  The girls will do a scavenger hunt and decorate treasure chests to remind them that heaven is the greatest treasure of all.  Their charms will be a gem for their bracelet.

Last but not least, Princess Grace and the Little Lost Kitten will teach responsibility and facing fears.  The girls will decorate a frame and put a picture of the Princess Parables Club girls in it to remind them that they are not alone.  They have friends who walk alongside them.  Their bracelet will get a star charm to remind them that they are God’s chosen children who are designed to do good works for Him.

On the last meeting, we are going to have a tea party.  All the girls will dress up and I will have the older girls serve them. We will teach a class on manners because God is a God of order and He loves when we defer to others.  Their final charm for their bracelet is a teapot.

 The group meets once a month and the afternoon looks like this:

3:30 – 3:45 Gather and have a snack

3:45 – 4:15 Read story and teach lesson

4:15 – 4:45 Craft related to character lesson

4:45 – 5:00 Clean up and play

I hope that this will inspire you to have a Princess Parables Club of your own and invite your daughter’s friends.  I know that I have been blessed by the girls and their moms so far.  Just grateful to serve this next generation of Godly ladies - teaching them character traits for a lifetime!​

Jackie's Journey: My Shadow Princess

As the plane lifted into the sky, I caught a glimpse of the entire village waving farewell.  There was one girl who stood in front of the crowd, crying.  I would miss her most of all! 

That young girl was my nearest neighbor and she quickly became my shadow.  When two-month-old Kim would cry, she would run quickly to get her and bring her to me.  I did not understand her kind action but I always thanked her and stopped whatever I was doing to receive Kim into my arms. 

Later I would learn what a very special gift I was receiving. The Kunas were very accommodating and took turns caring for each other’s babies, freeing mothers to leave the village and go into the jungle to tend their fields for hours. When the baby cried, the first to reach the distressed child would nurse that baby!

In our village, some of the mothers had tuberculosis, and  “my shadow” had dutifully protected Kim for those early months after our entering Kuna land.  Our permission to live in Pucuro was granted by the Kuna elders, specifically to bring medicine to the women who were losing their babies during childbirth and care for the sick.  In those early days, we were oblivious to much of their culture, yet silently God met my “unknown need” through the loving heart of a beautiful Indian princess named Anita.  

Like Jacob of old in the “barren and howling waste of the desert”, ”He (God) shielded us and cared for us, He guarded us as the apple of His eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them on its pinions.”  (Deut. 32:10-11)  The eye of an eagle can detect a rabbit or fish from over a mile away!  How much more is the protective eye of God on those who walk with Him.  

What is your understanding of God’s protective hand?

Did you know it comes with a condition? 

 “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases Him.”  1 John 3:21 

Promises given in Scripture are generally followed by a condition. 

Living under the divine protection of the Almighty God is a promise guaranteed, if we choose to walk by His standards and not our own.  Knowing He is invisibly working on our behalf when we are totally unaware of our need is a magnificent reality to comprehend when finally revealed in the light!  And it is a daily reminder to “walk our talk” so our heart does not condemn us.

 “The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him; and the Lord shall cover him all day long…”  Deut. 33: 12

Fear of the Lord

One Sunday, I looked at my family as we walked into church.  My kids and husband donned shorts on and flip-flops.  We went into worship in a casual setting with hands lifted high to our very contemporary worship and listened to our pastor, who was wearing jeans.

Of course, this scene is common now among churches, especially here in sunny Southern California.  However, when I was a kid, we wore long dresses, sang hymns and took communion every Sunday.  We were quiet as we listened to the scripture reading and knew that if we weren’t, my grandmother would hit us over the head from the pew behind with a rolled up bulletin.

While recently studying Psalm 34, I began to ask myself whether my kids are learning the fear of the Lord.  Am I a woman who fears the Lord?

When doing my study, I researched the Hebrew word for “fear”. In this particular Psalm, the word “fear” stems from “yare”:  which literally means to be afraid, shake in your boots – but also to stand in awe of, to reverence, honor and respect. 

In the English language, we have many meanings to the word fear.  I can fear the rats in my home. I can fear conflict.  I can fear earthquakes.  I can fear old age.  I can also fear a great, awesome and holy God.   We do not have an equivalent word for yare in the English language.  It takes many words to make up for just one Hebrew word.  But because the Hebrew language was so clear, they knew that this word “yare” meant to know who God is – his power, his strength, his attributes, his greatness– and then not take him for granted.  They knew not to put God in a box because at any given point and time He can strike us dead. But even more than that, we must have an awe that the God of the universe loves me and is patient with me.  Fearing the glory and majesty, we cannot understand, except with respect and humility.

In Psalm 34, David invites us to come and learn what it means to fear the Lord because as we all know God says, “Fearing the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. (Proverbs 9:10, Ps. 111:10, Proverbs 1:7)

David commands us to fear the Lord (v.9) and then he promises for those of us who do, we will want for nothing.  I am reminded that this promise does not mean that whatever we want will come our way, but whatever God deems good for us.

There is a quiz in these verses (v. 9-14): one to ask ourselves.  How do I answer these questions?  They are all actions of personal obedience.  Choices we make.  How we own our life.

 Am I a woman who fears the Lord?  Let’s find out:

Do I keep my tongue from evil?  I want so much to be the woman who has no evil reports, who doesn’t enjoy gossip, who encourages others, who thinks the best of others.  This sin has been passed on from generation to generation- all the way back to my great-great grandmother. I prayed for this sin to be broken in me when I became born again.  I prayed especially for the generations after me.  If I am to be a woman who fears the Lord, then I must keep my mouth from evil.

Do I lie or do I deceive?  A woman who fears the Lord will not lie or deceive.  My dad was a General Manager of a car dealership for 35 years – need I say more.  I was a huge liar as a kid until I met Jesus when I was 27 and I did an about take.  But if I fear the Lord and the consequences of this sin, I will not tell a lie. If the Holy Spirit resides within me, I cannot deceive and get away with it. 

Do I run from mind-corrupting evil?  A woman who fears the Lord doesn’t dwell in the house of the evil one.  Are you cutting more and more of the world out year to year or are you letting more and more of it in?  Are you becoming more slack when it comes to the kinds of movies and TV shows that you watch? Are the books that you read and the music that you listen to glorifying the Lord? What has God asked you to give up lately for him?   For me to stay away from evil, I ask this question:  “What is right with it?” instead of “What is wrong with it?” A woman who fears the Lord runs from evil.

Do I do good? If I want to be wise and fear the Lord, then I will do the work here on earth because I love the Creator of the universe.  He is so patient with me and I deserve so little. He has filled His book, His Word, with practical ways for us to “act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God” Micah 6:8.  I will do good, serving Him because I want to be His girl and will do whatever He signs me up for.

Do I look everywhere peace? Those who fear God run after peace. She looks for it. She is certain that as far as it depends on her, she is at peace with all people (Rom. 12;18).  Do I need to forgive someone?  Do I need to ask forgiveness of someone else?  Is my home and my life a place of peace or does chaos follow me? Do I strive for peace in all areas of my life?  Blessed is the peacemaker (a man who fears the Lord), for he shall be called a son of God. (Matt. 5:9)

But for today I take it to him “Lord, am I the woman you want me to be?  Am I a woman who fears you?  If not, show me the way!”